Thousands attend women's conference in Center City

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The crowd at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City was about 10,000 people deep Wednesday for the annual Pennsylvania Conference for Women.

"This conference is all about empowering women about our best lives," Action News anchor Sarah Bloomquist told the crowd. She, Tamala Edwards and Cecily Tynan were some of the emcees who introduced speakers.

One of the keynotes was author Elizabeth Gilbert, famously known for her memoir "Eat Pray Love."

Her message to attendees focused on setting priorities.

"What I mean when I say I don't care is making space for what you do care about and you can't do that unless you know what you don't care about. So you have to be willing to let that go and maybe make some people unhappy in the process, but they'll live," Gilbert said.

Apart from speakers, the conference also featured breakout sessions with topics ranging from finance to career advancement. Each subject was meant to help women develop both professionally and personally.

Monique Thompson of Plymouth Meeting said she's been coming to this conference for years, but this time, she brought a special guest.

"I actually brought my teenage daughter," she said, adding she wanted to teach these lessons "to my daughter at the age of 16 so she can take that ahead and hopefully do a little better than I did in those early choices in life."